In a desperate attempt to save Kevin Huffman's credibility and job, a petition was started by rich people. The signatures on the petition are an elite "who's-who" list of people who get generous paychecks from the reformy charter gravy-train. There are quite a few "name not displayed" entries on the petition, but from doing internet searches of the people who did sign their name, it is easy to see that these people are enemies of public schools. For example:

Rebecca Lieberman (managing director of school and sector initiatives for the Charter School Center) was quoted in the Tennesseean's article about the petition. Lieberman has a nice, cushy job at the Charter Incubator. According to the 2012 990 tax filing, she made a nice salary of $102,673. (their 2013 990 isn't available, but we bet she made even more last year). Her organization hit the jackpot financially under Huffman's leadership. The CEO's salary at the Charter Incubatorincreased a whopping $73,586 in one year! (from $120,750 in 2011 to$176,336 in 2012). 2012 was obviously a boom year for their organization, because they also added a COO position for Justin Testerman with a sweet salary of $127,015. Nope, you certainly can't make that kind of salary as a public school teacher!

Teach for America corps members, Derik Ohanian, who taught as a temporary teacher through Teach for America, was then super-launched into an internship with the White House for 4 months over the summer, and then landed a sweet job with the TN Department of Education (working under his boss, Kevin Huffman) as a "Leadership Coaching Consultant" for the past 5 months. His signature surely bought some brownie points from his boss.

Achievement School District staffers also signed the petition, of course, like Margo Roen and Alex Little. Their jobs depend on Huffman, so it makes sense they'd sign it.

Elissa Kim is a no-brainer signing her name since she works as Executive Vice President for Recruitment and Admissions for Teach For America. Kevin Huffman was her former co-worker at TFA. Huffman signing that big $6 million no-bid contract for Tennessee with TFA meant job security for her. Her salary is more than Kevin Huffman's at $224,000 plus benefits. Yes, it is a huge conflict of interest between her job at TFA and the fact that she is on the Metro Nashville Board of Education, but who cares when there is money to be made?

John Eason, identified in the Tennesseean article as a “philanthropist,” is really an investor in for-profit management of charter schools (reformers really, really want for-profit charters to be legal in TN and need Huffman to make it happen). Eason co-founded Beacon Education Management which merged with another firmand now operates under another name in other states.

The Tennesseean also writes: "Among names on the petition are several founders of publicly financed, privately operated charter schools in Nashville, including Ravi Gupta of RePublic Schools and Todd Dickson of Valor Collegiate Academy. It also includes charter philanthropists such as Townes Duncan and John Eason as well as leaders of the Tennessee Charter School Center." Quick internet searches show that Valor Collegiate Academy is opening in Nashville, with hopes to open a whole cluster of schools in Nashville. Cha-ching.

Townes Duncan, who fought to remove power from local elected school boards and give control to an un-elected state board allowing charters even more freedom to open in communities where they are not wanted.

Representative Mark White, devoted water boy for Governor Haslam, signed it and left a touching comment, too. There's no question of his loyalty and intentions. We hope the rumor isn't true that Mark White is on the list as a replacement for Huffman's job. White's contempt for public education and unwillingness to listen to parents & teachers would make him a horrible leader over Tennessee's public schools.

It is very interesting and damning that the signatures belong to the very people who have a vested financial interest in the failure of public schools. These people have prospered greatly under Huffman's reign, even when the students in their charter schools have failed and communities surrounding their charter schools have suffered.

It is also very interesting to read the comments under the signatures on the Save Huffman petition. The most popular reason to keep Huffman around is the 2013 NAEP test. Either these people are very gullible or they didn't read the real truth about the NAEP growth for TN.

Click HERE to read the real "miracle" ofwhy TN's NAEP scores jumped so drastically in 2013and why it won't happen again on the next NAEP.

A quote from a public school Dad:

"It kills me that Charter proponents have so little respect for the public's intelligence that they think they can create something like this and not have it be recognized as a charade starring the normal cast of characters. I also think its worth noting that there are current and aspiring school board members who have signed this petition. Voters need to ask themselves if people who are willing to support the divisive policies of Commissioner Huffman are really the best people to represent them."

Check out a Tennessee Dad's take on the petition. He's no fool. He recognizes a few names and injects humor into the subject:

If you want real public school supporters, involved in the real life of students as parents and teachers, check out this petition to remove Kevin Huffman. There are over 2,000 signatures and some serious comments that should be addressed by the Governor. Trust us, nobody on this petition is getting rich from Huffman's reforms.

Do not be fooled. Follow the money.See who is really benefiting from Huffman's reforms.

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Authors: real parents & real teachers from TN

They are afraid to speak up and risk their jobs... They want to protect their children... This blog is for them: Their voices need to be heard.

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